Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific is planning to cut more staff by next month due to the negative impact of COVID-19 in the aviation industry.

“The right sizing of Cebu Pacific will be necessary to fulfill our commitment to provide affordable and accessible air transport services to everyJuan in the years to come,” Charo Logarta, spokesperson of Cebu Pacific said. 

“The details are still being finalized and Cebu Pacific commits that any decisions and actions that will be taken will be done with utmost transparency, sensitivity and responsibility to our employees, partners and other stakeholders,” she added. 

The budget airline earlier laid off 150 newly-hired cabin crew. 

As of 2019, Cebu Pacific has 4,352 permanent full time employees.

Logarta said Cebu  Pacific is undergoing a transformation process that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business, given the expected changes in travel demand and consumer behavior. 

“We expect travel recovery to happen over a longer period, with COVID-19 negatively impacting the aviation industry,” Cebu Pacific said. 

The airline earlie reported a net loss of P1.18 billion from January to March, a reversal from the P3.35-billion net income posted in the same period last year.

Revenue tumbled 25 percent in the first quarter to P15.91 billon from P21.77 billion a year ago following the cancellation of regional flights.

Passenger revenues decreased 27.4 percent to P11.38 billion from P15.679 billion in the three months ending March 2019.

The group saw a 16.5-percent drop in passenger traffic from 5.3 million to 4.4 million, as flights decreased 14.7 percent and load factor declined 2.9 percentage points from 84.2 percent to 81.3 percent.

AirAsia Philippines earlier  announced the reduction of its workforce by 12 percent or 260 jobs out of its 2,200 employees. Philippine Airlines, meanwhile, laid off 300 ground-based administrative and management personnel last February. 

1Aviation Groundhandling Services Corp., the ground handling service provider of  Cebu Pacific and Cebgo, has reduced  more than 1,000 employees as the aviation industry reels from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The International Air Transport Association said in its latest report the pandemic could cost 548,300 jobs in the Philippine air sector this year and cut the industry’s revenues to $4.48 billion.

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